Statement from Julia Mulligan, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire

Following the report from the Rape Monitoring Group earlier in the week, which analyses how rape is dealt with in each police force area across England and Wales, Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan said: 

“It is heartening to see North Yorkshire with the highest conviction rate in Yorkshire for rape prosecutions.  This is down to a range of factors, including the professionalism and sensitivity of officers dealing with these cases. In addition, since coming to office in 2012, we have more than tripled the funding in place to help victims of domestic and sexual abuse, which has led to an increase in the number of independent sexual and domestic violence advisors (IDVAs and ISVAs) working in North Yorkshire from 4 to 14. ISVAs directly support victims through the criminal justice process and play a huge part in securing conviction rates in North Yorkshire.

“North Yorkshire also has an important service at Bridge House in York that ensures adult victims of rape and sexual assault have a supportive environment in which to undergo forensic examination as well as to receive onward referral to care and support, including counselling.  Any victims of this type of crime can also self-refer into this service should they not want police involvement.

“Equally important is to ensure victims of crime have the confidence to come forward to the police to report their crimes, so today I want to take this opportunity to reassure anyone reading this who is a victim of sexual crime, whatever the circumstances, the police will take your case seriously. You can also contact IDAS, an independent charity who provides support to victims across North Yorkshire and the City of York at https://www.idas.org.uk/.”